Aussie state energy minister rules out Griffin Coal bailout
06 Jan 2010
Australian mining company, Wesfarmers Ltd has declined comment on speculation it was planning to make a bid for the assets of major Western Australian coal miner, Griffin Coal, which went into administration on Monday.
According to analysts a transaction on the lines would see Wesfarmers emerge as the dominant provider of coal to Western Australia's (WA) power stations.
Westfarmers operates one of its three coal mines named Premier at Collie, located in the state's southwest, where the debt-hit Griffin Coal's operations including the large Muja open cut mine are located.
Griffin's coal output is about 5 MT of coal per year as against the 3.4 MT achieved by Wesfarmers at Premier in 2008-09.
According to WA energy minister Peter Collier who spoke to reporters on Monday, a restructuring of Griffin Coal's debt was unlikely. This would suggest its assets to would be sold, say analysts.
Griffin Coal is in the red to the tune of A$700 million including A$519.33 million in unsecured debt to US bondholders.
